HISTORY OF THE JEWELL FAMILY IN CORNWALL

In the chapter "History of the Jewell name" I indicated that the "my" Jewell family came from Cornwall, but where exactly in Cornwall? It is important to realise that Cornwall was originally divided up into Parishes. Parishes were originally defined as the area within the responsibility of a person of priestly orders, to whom Tithes, and other ecclesiastical dues were paid.

If you are interested I have scanned a picture of a map showing the Parishes of Cornwall. Unfortunately the original is fairly large, so I have reduced it to 1000 x 900 pixels (112K), however it is not 100% clear. Hopefully it will give you some idea of the layout of the Parishes of Cornwall

During my research I did discover that in years gone by it was common for families to have large families. This could be for a number of reasons, but the saddest one of all, is that the death rate amongst children was high, and therefore the odds of the family continuing was increased by the birth of more children. You will also notice that there maybe 2 children with the same name. This would indicate that the first named child, died before the next one with the same name was born.

I should also mention that prior to approximately 1837, actual records of births were not kept. It was when the child was baptized, that a record was made. This sometimes became their date of birth, as their baptismal certificate was their only means to prove their age. I also discovered that surname Jewell was often written as either Jewell, Jewel, Jule or even Juell. Throughtout this site I have always shown the person's surname as Jewell, even it was shown as one of the other spellings. If you are interested you can read all about the History of the Jewell name , which will explain in more detail the actual history of the name.

I am at this moment researching John's ancestors, including who their descendants were. I am pleased to say that so far I have been able to establish links between some of John's ancestors and other branches of the Jewell family. Below you will find links to pages I have created on some of John's ancestors.

So where did it all begin?. Thanks to information supplied to me by Don Jewell, and information I have discovered from searching the International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.), the earliest known direct ancestor is a George Jewell (or Georgious Jule as shown in the I.G.I.) was baptised on 24 December 1567 at Poughill, Cornwall. If you look at the Parish map of Cornwall, you will see that the Parish of Poughill (pronounced "Pifffil") is in the far north, only six miles from the Devon border.

Unfortunately I have not been able to determine who George's parents were. There is however evidence that George had a sister, Anglicana who was baptised on the 4th August 1571. There are also a number of other Jewell's baptised in Poughill, however they were either baptised 20 years prior to George and Anglicana, or in some cases 40 years after. The strogest possibilty is that their parents could have been Richard Jewel (or Ricus. Jule as shown in the I.G.I.) and Joanna Balhatchett, who were married in the Parish of Poughill on the 25th November 1566, however I will need to conduct further research to confirm this, however there are no other recorded marriages of any Jewells in Poughill, so it does seem likely.

On the 19th December 1577, in the parish of Marhamchurch, George Jewell married Jone Harrye, who was apparently also born in the Parish of Marhamchurch. Marhamchurch is about two and a half miles further south of Poughill. As well as being parishes both Marhamchurch and Poughill are shown as villages, but in the sixteenth century, it is likely that there was little there but the church, some farm houses, and maybe a public house.

The Jewellís being in this part of North Cornwall supports the possibility of our name being derived from that of Judhael de Totnes, as Froxton one of his Cornish estates was just south of Marhamchurch.

To place George and Jone in historical perspective, they were born in the middle years of the reign of one of Englandís greatest monarch Queen Elizabeth 1st (1558 to 1603). These were turbulent times - Elizabeth was the third of King Henry VIIIís children to ascend to the throne inside eleven years, and the daughter of the second of Henryís six wives, Ann Boleyn. Henry VIII had broken away from what is known as the Roman Catholic church, which caused religious conflict through the land, and England was also at war with Spain. In 1588 the greatest Spanish Armada was in the Channel, endeavoring to gain control , and launch an invasion on England.

According to the International Genealogy Index (I.G.I.) George and Jone had a total of 5 children;

Digory, (the first child of George and Jone) then married Johan Shearme at Meheniot on 13th February 1614. A search of the I.G.I., has found only 1 record of batisimal or birth of Johan Shearme. It seems she was baptised around 1602 in the Parish of Kilkhampton. Unfortunately the is no record of who her parents are. At first glance one could wonder how this is possible given that Johan was married only 12 years after being baptised. It must be remembered that children were not always baptised after they were born. Johan could have been baptised many years after she was actually born.

Regarding Menheniot, it is a parish in the east of Cornwall - south east of Liskeard and about 10 miles from Plymouth. Menheniot is a mining area, so the Jewells may have come south looking for employment in the mines. This move could be part of what historian Margery Jellie suggests as the "staggered migration" from Poughill and Marhamchurch, in the far north to Wendron in the south. Menheniot is about 31 miles (50km) from Marhamchurch along a natural north-south line, and avoiding the natural barrier of Bodmin Moor

Even though all 3 of Thomas and Margery's children were baptised on the same day, it does not necessarily mean that they were triplets. They could have been actually born on different dates and for convenience, all baptised on the same date.

Regarding William Jewell (the first child above), unfortunately I do not the name of Williamís wife, but he does appear as the father of Mathias Jewell baptised on the 2nd of October 1681, at St Stephens in Brannel. It would appear William continued the migration south.

Further research indicates that Mathias continued the migration, probably in search of work, and ended up in Wendron, one of Cornwall's largest Parishes. On 16th July 1707 Mathias Jewell married Jane Jenkin in the Parish of Wendron. Jane Jenkin was baptised on the 6th January 1684, in the Parish of Helston, daughter of Abraham Jenkin. I have been able to discover that they had 4 children, all shown as being baptised in the parish of Wendron. They were;

According to Kelly's Trade Directory (1873), The Parish of Wendron, was also known as St Gwendron. Its church registers date back to the year 1560. Wendron is predominately a mining district, however it is also known for its farming. The chief crops are wheat, oats, and green crops. The area it covers is a total of 13,029 acres. The population in 1871 was 5818.

The Jewell family seems to have settled in the Parish of Wendron, as the next 2 generations were all baptised there. Once again this could have been for employment reasons. Unfortunately I can not determine exactly where within the parish they lived. When time permits I hope to conduct more research and discover exactly where they lived.

Mathias (the first child mentioned above) married Grace Pedler on 1st November 1730, in the Parish of Wendron. Grace Pedler was baptised on the 26th December 1707. Only her father Edmund Pedler is shown. According to research Matthias and Grace had 5 boys & 2 girls, all were baptised in the Parish of Wendron. They were;

Mathias Jewell (the 4th child shown above) married Elizabeth Moyle in the Parish of
Wendron, on the 4th January 1766. Click here for a copy of the entry from the Parish Register.
An initial search of the I.G.I. for a record of Elizabeth Moyle has turned up a number
of possible baptisimal/birth records for Elizabeth. At this stage I can't be certain which record belongs to this Elizabeth
Moyle.

Like Mathias and Grace, Mattias and Elizabeth also had a large family consisting of 2 boys, and 6 girls. They were all
baptised in the Parish of Wendron. They were;

Richard (the 7th child mentioned) married Elizabeth Phillips married in the Parish of Wendron on 04/07/1807. (I have scanned a copy of the entry in the Parish register - NB the graphic is 800 x 906 pixels - to view the copy click here. According to my research they had 4 boys & 5 girls, all shown as being baptised in the Parish of St Ithians. They were

The reason they were all baptised is unclear, however I have discovered that Richard and his family lived close to the border of the Parish of Wendron and the Parish of St Ithians. It could be that they lived in Wendron, but their church was over the border and in St Ithians.

Unfortunately Richard died on the 28th of May 1841. According to his death certificate, a copy of which I have, he died of Asthma. A common diesease amongst miners, and with little or no cure.

Thnaks to information supplied to me from "Cousin" Don Jewell, I have been able to determine that Richard and his family lived in a region known as "Lancarrow", in the Parish of Carmenellis. This supports my earlier belief that Richard and his family lived close to the borders of the Parishes of Wendron and St Ithians

Carmenellis was a parish formed in 1846, from a northern section of the Parish. This further supports that the "Jewells" probably did live in the northern region of Wendron. Carmenellis took its name from Carn Menelez, a lofty hill of approximately 822 feet. It is interesting to note that there were in Carmenellis many mines, including North Jewell, West Jewell, and Wheal Jewell. I also came across a story that a John Jewell kept the "Golden Lion" pub in Carmenellis. Apparently he was fined in 1875 for keeping illegal hours. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I can not find any connection between this John Jewell, and my Jewells.

According to the 1841 Cencus the following members of Richard's family were still living in Lancarrow.

Name

Age at Cencus

Occupation listed

Richard

25

Copper Miner

Elizabeth

50

Matthew

20

Copper Miner

Jane

20

Copper Miner

William

15

Copper Miner

Sophia

10

Grace

10

When you compare the Cencus information with the baptisimal records, there are a number of differencers, and questions that need to
be investigated. Hopefully when time permits I can investigate this area further.

Richard Jewell (the 4th child mentioned above) married Charity Tippett in the Church of England, in Wendron on 23rd October 1841. Charity Tippett was the daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Tippett (nee Dalley) and was baptised on the 26th June 1814. Richard and Charity had 2 boys & 2 girls, all shown as being baptised in the parish of Carmenellis.

The details of Richard & Charity's children are as follows.

Mary Jane Tippett Jewell

- Born sometime around 1839

Elizabeth Jewell

- baptised 30/07/1843

Richard Jewell

- baptised 31/08/1845

John Jewell

- baptised 25/04/1847

Unfortunately I know little of where Richard and Charity lived or what became of them. According to the 1851 Cencus, there does not appear to be any record of them in Lancarrow, or even in the Parish of Carmenllis. Future research will hopefully discover more about Richard & Charity.

Mary Jane Tippett Jewell

You will notice that I do not have the exact date of birth for Mary Jane Tippett Jewell. The main reason for this is that the details of her birth do not exist. Please refer to the section on Mary for more details.

Elizabeth Jewell

According family stories it is believed that Elizabeth traveled to America with someone called Paul. To date I have not been able to ascertain exactly when she left, where she got married, or her descendants.

Richard Jewell

Richard unfortunately was a statistic of the still high mortalitly rate. I have been able to obtain a copy his Death Certificate, which shows he died at the age of 7 from Typhoid. Today he would have been cured however in those days typhoid was a killer, especially amongst children.

John Jewell

As for John Jewell, it is from him that I am directly related, and the one that came to Australia. Please see the Chapter on John Jewell.

If you are interested you can look at a list of the Descendants of George Jewell I have put together, listing all the descendants I have managed to locate. From there you will find links to individual pages I have created in each descendant, and where applicable I have created links to other branches of "my" Jewell family currently being researched.